I’ve recently made the switch to butter made from grass-fed cows, which you can easily find in your neighborhood grocery, no need to go to a specialty market. And, I’ve been trying to get my hands on grass-fed meat, although this seems a little harder to come by.
My sister asked me why the interest in grass-fed meat and dairy products, and although I had read prior books that convinced me to switch, I couldn’t articulate why, until I read, AntiCancer: A new way of life by David Servan-Schreiber MD Ph.D. He gives a great explanation:
In the natural cycle, cows give birth in Spring when the grass is most luxuriant and produce milk for several months until summer’s end. Spring grass is an especially rich source of Omega 3 Fatty acids. These fatty acids are therefore concentrated in the milk from cows raised in pastures and in the milk’s derivatives – butter, cream, yogurt and cheese. Omega 3s are likewise found in beef from grass-fed cattle and in eggs from free-range chickens fed with forage rather than grain. Starting in the 50’s the demand for milk products and beef went up so much that farmers had to look for shortcuts in the natural cycle of milk production and reduce the grazing area needed to feed a 750kg, 1600lb cow. Pastures were thus abandoned and replaced by battery farming.
Corn, soy and wheat, which had become the principle diet for cattle contained practically no Omega 3 fatty acids. To the contrary, these food sources are rich in Omega 6’s. Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are called essential because the human body cannot make them. As a result, the quantity of Omega 3’s and Omega 6’s in our bodies stems directly from the content of the food we eat. In turn, the amounts of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids in our food depend on what the cows and chickens we eat have consumed in their feed. If they eat grass, then the meat, milk, and eggs they provide are perfectly balanced in Omega 3’s and Omega 6’s. A balance close to 1: 1. If they eat corn and soy, the resulting imbalance in our bodies is as much as 1 : 15, even 1 : 40. The Omega 3’s and Omega 6’s present in our bodies constantly compete to control our body functions. Omega 6’s help stock fats and promote rigidity in cells as well as coagulation and inflammation in response to outside aggression. They stimulate the production of fatty cells from birth onward. Omega 3’s are involved in developing the nervous system, making cell membranes more flexible, and reducing inflammation. They also limit the development of adipose, fat cells. Our physiological balance depends very much on the balance between Omega 3’s and Omega 6’s in our body, and therefore, in our diet. It turns out that it is this dietary balance that has changed the most in the last 50 years. Cows are not the only farm animals affected by change. Chicken diets have changed radically as well. Eggs, the embodiment of a natural food, no longer contain the same essential fatty acids they did 50 years ago.
I emailed the passage to my sister.
You’re welcome.
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